The Magic of Gaming is a weekly column with the latest news about fantasy-themed games.
Lots of gaming news, previews, and trailers this week as Gamescon kicks off in Germany.
Final Fantasy XIV Online (Sept. 30 on PC, and March 2011 on PS3) was unveiled for the first time yesterday. Both IGN and Gamespot have detailed write-ups of the game play that you can check out, so I’ll just post a few screenshots:
I want that guy’s house!
More details were released this week about BioShock Infinite (2012). Irrational Games creative director Ken Levine told Kotaku that the missing woman you’re hunting, Elizabeth, becomes a companion of sorts:
She’s an amplifier for your powers if you choose to have her be an amplifier for your powers … There’s no component of squad commands with her in the game. She is a self-driven entity. She will react if you go this way or that way on the field. She’ll say different things; she’ll react different ways verbally. She’s kind of a combination of what you saw on the screen and there’s a Left 4 Dead component about her in terms of her saying things that are driven by the simulation…
Frankly, I’ll be happy as long with whatever she does, as long as it doesn’t involve sticking corpses with a syringe.
BioWare has revealed the Advanced Classes for your Jedi in Star Wars: The Old Republic (TBD 2011): Sentinel and Guardian.
I’m not a huge Star Wars fan, but I’m looking forward to this game because BioWare’s behind it, and I’ve already played Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2 so many times I’m starting to see dialogue trees in real life.
Speaking of Dragon Age, the new DLC “Golems of Amgarrak” was released; I didn’t like it.
Dragon Age 2 finally has a release date! It drops March 8, 2011 in US and March 11, 2011 in Europe. Mass Effect 2 will be coming to PS3 in January.
Excalibur Online, a “free to play MMORT set in the days before Camelot,” started their open beta this week. Registration is free and you can start playing immediately.
A new extended trailer for The Lord of the Rings: War in the North (XBox, PS3, and PC, 2011) emphasizes the co-op gameplay.
New trailers/teasers were also released this week for Arcania: Gothic 4 (XBox, PS3, PC, Oct. 12, 2010), Tera (PC only, 2011), and Kingdom Under Fire II (Xbox and PC, late 2010).
Finally, for those who can’t get enough of Albion, Microsoft is making a special $60 Fable III-themed controller available for the XBox on Oct. 5, with a code to download a unique in-game tattoo.
You can buy a Fable novel the same day — Fable, The Balverine Order, which comes with a code for a unique in-game weapon. The novel’s synopsis reads:
The days of magic and adventure are fading away, giving way to the age of industry and science. As the aged last Hero sits upon the throne of Albion, two friends-the privileged Thomas and his loyal servant, John- set out for the East in search of a legendary beast: the vicious, rarely-seen balverine. But their desire for adventure may be their ultimate undoing-because their quarry has just found them…
You’ll have to spend a lot of gold if you want these and the exclusive location and quest that comes with the $79.99 Fable III Collector’s Edition (Oct. 26). Better get to bartending/woodchopping/blacksmithing!
Sarah Warn currently runs EntertainHer.com; you can follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
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